REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday, July 17, 2006

BRING them home.

That was the plea to the Australian Government from Gold Coast relatives awaiting news from the Middle East.

Cronin Island resident Mahamad Dib said he hadn’t spoken to his elderly father, who was holidaying in Lebanon, for three weeks.

He and his family had no idea if Shawkat Dib, 78, was safe.

“We want the Australian Government to bring them home,” said Mr Dib.

He believed Lebanese-Australians should be ferried to Cyrpus with guarantees from Israel that such ferries would not be attacked.

Mr Dib senior left his Sydney home a month earlier to stay in Lebanon for six months.

His son, 49, said: “We can’t contact him, we haven’t heard. We’ve tried but there is no way to communicate (with him).

“We know he can’t get out, of course. We would like to talk to him.”

He said his father was on the outskirts of Tripoli, the second capital of Lebanon, and the bombings were “not so close to him at this stage” but he was concerned the violence could spread.

Lebanese-Australian David Hellou, 45, of Benowa, said he also feared for the safety of distant family members who lived in Lebanon.

“I haven’t been able to contact them, the infrastructure has been attacked,” he said.

“It’s very sad a sovereign country like Lebanon can be practically annihilated for the actions of a few bad apples. It’s totally disgusting.

“I feel the civilised world has a lot to answer for.”

He said he believed Israel should be disarmed.